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...^ MEAT BISCUIT; 

INVENTED, PATENTED, AND MANUFACTURED 



IJY 



GAIJ. BORDEN, Jun. 3 



coa^^^^^sj^ 



J. K. BROV^ZSR 6l Co. 



SOLE AGENTS IN NEW- YORK, ^ 



45 SOUTH-STREET. 



MAY 1, 1851. 



3 



NEW-YOhK : 
riUNTi:i)*V I). FANSir.VAV, CORNKJR OF ANN AND NASSAV-STS. 






t^ 



THE MEAT BISCUIT, 

INVENTED, PATENTED, AND MANUFACTURED 
BY 

GAIL BORDEN, Jun. 



The nature of this discovery or invention, con- 
sists in an improved process of preserving the 
nutritious properties of meat, or animal flesh of 
any kind, by obtaining the concentrated extract 
or essence of it, and combining it with flour or 
vegetable meal, and by drying or baking the 
mixture in an oven, in the form of a biscuit or 
cracker. 

One pound of this new and useful preparation 
of concentrated 7n€at and bread contains the nutri- 
ment or essence of Jive pounds of good meat, or, 
in other words, ail the nutriment (except the oily 
portions) contained in five hundred pounds of 
good fresh meat, with seventy pounds of flour, 
can, by this invention, be packed in a twenty gal- 
lon cask. It can be prepared in the shortest time 
as a soup^ pudding, sauce, <fec. 

One word with regard to the invention. Per- 
haps it may be said that the extracting of the es- 
sence of meat is no new thing j I am aware it is 



2 t.HK MEAT BISCUIT* 

not. Messrs. Munn & Co. in a letter to me on the 
subject, under date of 24th October, 1849, said 
that *' the mode of preparing the concentrated li- 
quid, or paste beef, has been long known to the 
world, such as is described in Graj's or Liebig's 
chemistry ; but, as combined with flour, and made 
into bread, as claimed bj jou, is entirely new to 
us, and we do not think any such process has ever 
been used before your discovery. The plan is, in 
our opinion, a valuable one.'' 

I am aware that young meats and those por- 
tions of the animal containing a large proportion 
of gelatine have been brought into solids like glue j 
but this of itself is not sufficiently nutritious to 
sustain vigorous health, or scarcely life. I was my- 
self endeavoring to make a paste-cake from the 
extract of meat when I made the discovery. Im- 
pressed with the importance of a concentrated nu- 
tritious food for travellers to the Pacific coast, 1 
fead put up an apparatus by which I reduced one 
hundred and twenty pounds of young beef meat 
to ten pounds of essence or extract, of a consis- 
tency like thick sugar-house syrup. I could not 
slice nor dry it ; and unwilling to lose my labor, 
it occurred to me, after various experiments, to 
mix the article with good flour and bake it. To 
my great satisfaction, the bread or biscuiS was 
found to contain all the primary principles of the 
meat, and with a better flavor than simple beef 
soup, thickened with flour. 



THE MEAT BISCUIT, 



I would here remark, that the essence or ex- 
tract of matured meat, of which " the Meat Bis- 
cuit " is made, will not form a gelatine or a sub- 
stance that will dry like glue. I am thus particu- 
lar on this point, as most Editors, in giving an 
account of the process by which the Meat Biscuit 
is made, call the extract jelly or gelatine. The 
French chemists have long since ascertained the 
worthlessness of gelatine as a diet ; it is only 
when combined with other qualities of meat that 
it is serviceable. 

I have been asked why the manufacture of the 
Meat Biscuit should be located at Galveston ? The 
answer is obviously this : because the prairies of 
Texas abound in neat cattle of the finest quality. 

The Meat Biscuit forms one of the most use- 
ful diets ever offered to the public ; and is adapt- 
ed to the Wialing and Maratime service generally. 
For Families and Hospitals, and in all circum- 
stances, where fresh meat is wanted, this biscuit 
will be found invaluable; and on all voyages, 
whether long or short, or journeys on land, most 
useful and economical. 

For the Marine. — The health of seamen 
would be preserved, and their comfort increased 
by the use of it. Having the quality and flavor 
of meat fresh from the slaughter, it would doubt- 
less prove anti-scorbutic ; and therefore, with the 
sailors' salt provision, would be of the utmost 



4 THE MEAT BISCUIT. 

importance. It can be cooked with great advan- 
tage with many other articles of diet ; one day a 
soup with hard biscuit — the next with beans or 
peas — the third with rice, and at all times as a 
sauce for puddings ; thus having a fresh article of 
meat every day. And when to these advantages 
is added, that, in case of shipwreck, a single bar- 
rel of this Meat Bread will, without further prepa- 
ration than such as it receives in its manufacture, 
support in full vigor an entire boat's crew for 
weeks. How many valuable lives would often- 
times be saved to the world, if every sea-going 
vessel would take but a few cases of this biscuit, 
to be stowed away for use in such emergencies 1 

For Hospitals and the Sick or Convalescent 
it will be found most useful. A patient can, at 
the shortest notice, have it prepared to any de- 
gree of nutrition, from a weak broth to the most 
nutricious soup. The absence of grease from the 
composition, while it possesses the nutritive qua- 
lities of the meat, renders it particularly adapted 
•jDr the use of invalids. 

For Family Use, this Meat Bread will be 
found very convenient, and especially so in warm 
weather, as it requires little fire (or a lamp of al- 
cohol) to prepare it. The various ways in which 
it can be served up, will be explained in the " di- 
rections for cooking," accompanying each package. 

Before offering this new article of diet to the 



THB MEAT BISCUIT. 5 

public for sale, the inventor went to great trouble 
and expense in having it tested by sea and on 
land for more than eighteen months ; and its pre- 
servative qualities have been put to the test by 
its being carried to California across the plains, 
and by way of Cape Horn, as well as on other 
voyages, as will be more fully shown by the tes- 
timonials which follow. 

I have obtained a patent with a view to con- 
trol and insure the manufacture of a genuine arti- 
cle. One pound of the Meat Biscuit contains all 
the nutriment that can be got out o^ five pounds 
of the best fresh beef. An article to imitate it 
may be made, to contain not one-fourth the quan- 
tity. It must be apparent to every one, that the 
character of the article is suoh, that unless its 
manufacture be guarded by exclusive right, it 
would become adulterated, and be of no advan- 
tage to individuals, or use to the world. And I 
would here remark, that, in order to protect the in- 
tegrity of the Meat Biscuit, I intend to have only 
one agent in a place, and (for some time to come, 
a few in the aggregate) only in a few of the most 
important places in the United States. 

And further, to guard the public against the 
sale of a spurious article, I shall execute letters 
of attorney, under my hand and seal, to each and 
every agent I may appoint to make sales for me ; 
and I likewise fully give notice of my intention to 



6 THE MEAT BISCUIT. 

prosecute with the rigor of the law, any and every 
violation or infringement of my patent right, 
which may come to the knowledge of myself or 
agents. 

Much more might be said to show the impor- 
tance and usefulness of this discovery, but refer- 
ence need only be made to the few testimonials 
which follow, out of many which I have received 
from persons whose scientific attainments and 
practical experience preclude the idea of their be- 
ing deceived, and whose high position is a gua- 
rantee of their impartiality. 

G. BoRDENj JUN. 

Galveston^ 8ih Aprils 1851. 

From Ashbel Smith, 

Surgeon-General of ihe late Army of Texas, and Minis- 
ter at London and Paris, in a letter to Dr. Alexander 
Dallas Bache, President of the American Association for 
the Advancement of Science, etc. he says: 

"I have eaten soup made of the Meat Biscuit 
several times; it has a fresh, lively, clean, and 
thoroughly done, or cooked flavor. It is perfectly 
free from that vapid unctuous stale taste, which 
characterizes all prepared soups I have hitherto 
tried at sea and elsewhere. But, before speaking 
further of its uses, I will briefly allude to the 
manner of preparing the biscuit in question. The 
nutritive portions of the beef, or other meat, im- 
mediately on its being slaughtered, are, by long 



THE MEATBISCUIT. 7 

boiling, sepcarated from the bones and fibrous and 
cartilaginous matters: the water holding the nu. 
tritious matter in solution, is evaporated to a con- 
siderable degree of spicitude — this is then made 
into a dough with superfine wheaten flour; the 
dough rolled and cut into the form of biscuits, is 
then desiccated, or baked in an oven at a mode- 
rate heat. The cooking, both of the flour and the 
animal food, is thus complete. The Meat Biscuits 
thus prepared have the appearance and firmness 
of the nicest crackers or navy bread, being as 
dry, and breaking or pulverizing as readily as the 
most carefully made table crackers. Those che- 
mical changes in food which, in common language) 
we denominate cooking, have been perfectly ef- 
fected in Mr. Borden's biscuit, by the long con- 
tinued boiling at first, and the subsequent baking 
or roasting. The soup prepared of it is thus ready 
to be absorbed into the system without loss, and 
without tedious digestion in the alimentary canal 
and is in the highest degree nutritious and invi- 
gorating. It is to be noted, moreover, that the 
Meat Biscuit is manufactured without salt, pepper 
or any condiment or chemical antiseptic whatj" 
ever: thus t\iQ freshness or peculiar properties in, 
herent to recently slaughtered meat are preserved, 
and a simple and perfect guarantee furnished of 
the goodness of any particular parcel. To the 
soup made of Mr. Borden's biscuit, as already 



8 THE MEAT BISCUIT. 

intimated, salt and the various condiments used 
in soups may be added to suit the taste; also, 
toasted bread, vegetables, etc. as circumstances 
permit and fancy suggests, until the varied cata- 
logue of the potages of the restaurateurs may be 
rivaled. 

"The different portable soups and prepared 
meats for long voyages, which I have seen, an- 
swer only imperfectly the ends for which they 
have been designed. Being prepared more or 
less with condiments, these meats differ from 
freshly slaughtered animal food; they contain 
fibrous and indigestible portions, being more or 
less liquid in form, they are inconvenient to 
carry, and besides, thus necessitate the transpor- 
tation of useless bulk. The meats put up for 
long voyages, in the manner just alluded to, are 
not wholly freed from fatty matters: these under- 
going slight chemical changes in time, impair 
both the taste and quality of the food, into which 
they enter; nor are these meats so completely 
cooked as by Mr. Borden's double process of 
boiling and baking. 

"I might here insist on the very great con- 
venience of Mr. B.'s Meat Biscuit arising from its 
dryness. For long voyages, it is best preserved 
in soldered tin cases or tight casks : but it may 
be carried in sacks, suspended from, one's saddle 
bow, for weeks or months over the prairies, or 



THE MEAT BISCUIT. 9 

through the desert, without risk of spoiling, using 
care to keep it dry ; and when a case or cask is 
opened, it may be economised for days or weeks, 
according to circumstances: whereas the liquid 
portable soups and prepared meats must be at 
once eaten, or they soon spoil, especially In damp 
or hot weather. 

" As no condiments nor chemical preserva- 
tives enter into the Meat Biscuit, it retains, un- 
changed and unimpaired, all its qualities of freshly 
slaughtered meat: and, as already intimated, fur- 
nishes its own evidence and guarantee of sound- 
ness at the time of using. 

" As the Meat Biscuit requires only ten to 
twenty minutes to be made into a hot delicious 
soup, with the aid of fire and water only, its ad- 
vantages for family use, for hospitals, at sea, and 
on long journeys, over land, and wherever it is 
desirable to prepare food promptly, must be 
obvious. 

"The paramount excellence of Mr. B.'s dis- 
covery, appears to me to consist in this, that it is 
a Meat Biscuit — it is meat and bread. Human 
life may be sustained, as we all know, on a diet 
of a single kind, but the highest degree of corpo- 
real and mental strength and health can be long 
maintained only by the use of both vegetable 
and animal food ; especially when labors, fatigues, 
and privations are to be undergone. I believe 



10 THE MEAT BISCUIT. 

there does not exist in nature or art the same 
amount of nutriment in as small bulk or weight, 
and as well adapted to support, efficiently and 
permantly, mental and physical vigor, as is con- 
centrated in the Meat Biscuit in question. One 
ounce of the biscuit meal makes a pint of rich, 
invigorating animal and farinaceous soup. The 
biscuit being converted into soup by its combi- 
nation with water, all the requirements of a good 
food are answered, animal and vegetable aliment 
in a sufficient bulky form. 

" We have thus, in the Meat Biscuit, an article 
of food, partly farinaceous, and partly animal, 
such as the system requires for continued use; it 
is easily preserved in all climates, seasons, and 
circumstances — it is in a form the most concen- 
trated and convenient for carriage — it is prepared 
with little trouble, and speedily ; by its cheap- 
ness, it is accommodated to universal use. 

"The advantages of the Meat Biscuit, for hos- 
pitals, are obvious; a nice, cheap, fiesh, invigo- 
rating, and easily digestible soup can be prepared 
in a few minutes, at the moment almost, when 
the taste and condition of the patient require it. 

'• For private families, and especially small ones, 
and in the warm season, it is convenient by dis- 
pensing with the long hours of boiling required 
to prepare ordinary soups. 

" On long sea voyages, it furnishes, at a cheap 



THE MEAT BISCUIT. 11 

rate, that indispensable requisite of health and 
preventive of scurv}', an occasional ration of fresh 
meat. But it is not for long voyages alone, to 
which it is adapted. Every one who has been 
at sea knows the sparing use of fire on board 
ships. What could be more grateful, invigorating, 
and healthful for the sailor, dripping with water, 
and shivering with cold, than a bowl of hot soup, 
well seasoned with pepper, or other warming con- 
diments 1 and how vastly more salutary than the 
ration of grog! 

" Ten pounds, a weight easily packed by a foot 
traveller, is sufficient for thirty days' subsistence. 
The fire for cooking is one of the greatest dangers 
in the Indian country, as it betrays the situation 
of the camp to the hostile Indian ; the advantage 
of a small and momentary flame, such as is ade- 
quate to prepare the Meat Biscuit, will not be 
lightly estimated by persons whose path has been 
among hostile Indians. Our frontier, it is to be 
feared, will be long subject to Indian depredations. 
Mr. Borden's discovery greatly adds to our means 
of prompt and efficient pursuit and protection. 

" Indeed, I feel quite confident that the Meat 
Biscuit will, ere long, form a part of the indis- 
pensable supplies of every expedition into our 
western wilds, and of every military corps on our 
frontier. 

" Every one familiar with the recent Mexican 



12 THE MEAT BISCUIT. 

campaigns, remembers the delays and embarrass- 
ments occasioned by want of rations of easy 
transportation. It was often impracticable to 
pursue, even a small corps of the enemy. A 
similar want has been the chief difficulty experi- 
enced by the French in the subjugation of Algiers ; 
for want of subsistence, the French troops could 
not pursue the Arabs in their razzias, on their re- 
treat to the mountain fastnesses. We have here 
the means of obviating similar difficulties, delays, 
and embarrassments hereafter. Every invention 
which shortens war, is a gain to humanity. 

" For upwards of a thousand years, science, 
commerce and philanthrophy have cast wistful 
and longing eyes toward that vast terra incognita, 
hidden in the interior of Africa. An opinion has 
long prevailed that, in the hitherto inaccessible 
regions of that immense continent, mineral wealth, 
vegetable productions, animals, and perhaps forms 
of civilization exist, as yet unknown to the rest 
of the world. Among the formidable obstacles 
to be encountered in penetrating thither, has been 
the want of a suitable food to sustain life on the 
journey from the coast. Mr. Borden's discovery 
supplies this want ; light and not bulky, and not 
liable itself to be spoiled and rendered unfit for 
use by the climate. 

" To enumerate the various uses for ordinary 
life, and new occasions which the Meat Biscuit 



THE M^AT BISCUIT. IZ 

may subserve, would extend this already long 
letter to a most unreasonable length ; they will 
become more and more obvious on reflection to 
every man of observation ; but it would, after 
all, be a discovery of only limited utility, unless 
it can be furnished at so low a price as to enter 
into free competition with the ordinary means of 
subsistence. From conversation with Mr. Bor- 
den, and learning the manner of preparation, and 
the cost of materials, I am satisfied it may be one 
of the cheapest articles of food. Putting it up in 
tin cases or casks, costs less than barreling a like 
amount of beef; being much smaller in bulk, and 
dry, its transportation is less. Indeed, it may be 
taken where the cost of freight on beef or pork 
would debar the introduction of these latter arti- 
cles. 

" Public confidence, in an article like the one 
which forms the subject of this letter, depends 
greatly on a well-grounded assurance of its care- 
ful and correct preparation. Being made with- 
out any condiments, or chemical antiseptic, its 
taste and smell are, at all times, evidence of its 
soundness and faithful manufacture." 

From Col. B. V. Sumner, 

[copy.] first dragoons. 

Fort Leavenworth, May 14, 1850. 
Major — I have tried the " Meat Biscuit," and find 
it all, and more than the inventor thinks it is. To sa- 



14 THE MEAT [biscuit. 

lisfy myself, I have lived upon it entirely for several 
successive days ; and I am convinced that I could live 
upon it for months, and retain my health and strength. 
I thought that although it might sustain life, there 
would be a craving for more solid food ; but it is not 
so— ray appetite was perfectly satisfied. The inventor 
thinks that five ounces a day will support a man. * * * 
I could not use four ounces a day, made into soup, 
with nothing added but pepper and salt ; and, moreover, 
I found I could entirely dispense w^ith tea and coffee, 
which is a great advantage, and which has not been 
enumerated. 

In my judgment, this is a very great discovery, and 
must lead to important results. 

I have long thought the compression of whole- 
some food into a smaller compass, was one of the most 
important things that remained to be discovered in this 
age of inventions. Think of a regiment of 600 men 
cutting loose from all magazines for two months, with 
no other baggage train than 60 or 60 pack mules. At 
five ounces a day for each man, the weight would be 
9,375 pounds, which forty-five mules would carry. 

In military operations, fresh meat would generally 
be found and put into the soup, which would make it 
more substantial ; but the men could subsist without it, 
and it would not be necessary, for their health and vi- 
gor, to transport bread or any other rations. 

I have no idea that it will be used to this extent for 
some time to come, as great changes must be gradually 
made; but I am decidedly of opinion that we ought to 
commence using it in the army at once; and I believe, 
for all active operations in the field, the advantages of 
this food will be so apparent, that it will come into 
general use in a few years. 

I think it will be better to have it always pulverised 
and kept in tin canisters to hold about 26 pounds. 

The inventor had better send me a dozen of these 
canisters, before I march upon the plains this summer. 

I shall frequently send out detachments on long ex- 
cursions, and it will be a good opportunity to put thia 



THE MEAT BISCUIT. 15 

discovery to a thorough test. Please send (his letter to 
Gen. Gibson — and will you inform Mr. Borden of its 
purport? Very respeclfally, your obedient servant, 
E. V. Sumner, 

Brevet Col. let Dragoons. 

From J. J. 3. T^right, 

Chief Surgeon of the 8th Military Department. 
[extract.] 

" I have examined and tried the article [the 
Meat Biscuit] with considerable attention to par- 
ticularity — have used it in the Hospital, and at 
our private table ; and have no hesitation in bear- 
ing testimony to its excellence as an article of 
diet. I think it admirably adapted for the use of 
troops on long marches or campaigns, where it is 
important to combine a large quantity of nourish- 
ment in small bulk and little weight. 

" A friend of mine has in his possession a re- 
maining quantity of the article, that was manu- 
flictured a year ago last September ; which, hav- 
ing been kept with only ordinary attention to its 
preservation, is now in as good condition, appa- 
rently, as when it was first prepared. 

(Signed) J. J. B. Wright, 
" 4th January, 1851. Surgeon U. S. Army. 

*' To Brig. Genl. Tnos. Lawson, 

" Surgeon General of the Army." 

Other gentlemen connected with the Medical 



16 THE MEAT BISCUIT. 

Staff of the Army, and also Surgeons of tlie Navy, 
have investigated the merits of the Meat Biscuit, 
as an article of great promise and advantage to 
both branches of the public service. 

Dr. John B/I. Tibbets, who crossed the 
plains to California in the Spring and Summer of 
last year, in a letter dated San Francisco, 12th 
February, 1851, says : 

" I am happy to inform you that your Meat 
Biscuit came entirely up to your recommenda- 
tion. We found it very nutritious, and on the 
plains, a great delicacy. We probably had soup 
six days out of seven for more than three months. 
It keeps perfectly sweet, and we have one canis- 
ter of it at this date, and I assure you, it is per- 
fectly sound. I have no doubt but that your 
Meat Biscuit, put up well, will keep sound for 
years.'* 

After speaking more particularly as to the 
uses he made of it over the plains, and its vast 
importance to the travelling community, he adds, 
" I will say, in conclusion, that a number of scien- 
tific gentlemen have examined your Meat Biscuit, 
and have often partaken of it on the plains, and 
pronounce it well adapted for the purposes for 
which you intend it ; among whom I will men- 
tion Dr. R. Knox, of St. Louis, and Dr. H. Haugh- 
ton, recently appointed one of the visiters of West 
Point Academy." 



THE MEAT BISCUIT. 17 

The Meat Biscuit is one of the most valuable 
inventions that has ever been brought forward, 
and will be the means of enabling travellers and 
mariners to enjoy both vegetable and flesh in a 
most dainty dish at any moment. — Scientific 
American. 

From 3. H. Brower 6l Co. 

Merchants, of New-York. 

We hereby certify that we have now in our 
possession, a canister of your " Meat Biscuit," 
which has been on board our packet ship Benja- 
min H. Milam^ during five consecutive voyages, 
between this port and Galveston, Texas, (com- 
prising a period of about fourteen months,) and 
that the biscuit continues to be in as perfectly fresh 
and sound condition as when first manuflictured. 
(Signed) J. II. Bkower & Co. 

New-York, April 30, 1851. 
To Gail Borden, Jun. Esq. 

The following notices of the manufactory are 
extracted from the journals of Galveston : 

The extensive establishment for the manufacture of 
the Meat Biscuit is now in operation in this city. The 
novelty of the various operations going on in this estab- 
lishment, can hardly ftiil to strike the beholder with 
some degree of surprise; and he is naturally led to en- 
quire if this is, indeed, the only establishment of the 
kind in the world. — The News. 

The Meat Biscuit Manufactory. — This novel 
establishment is now in full and complete operation in 
this city. The buildings are commodious and well 
adapted to the business ; the machinery entirely new, 



18 tHE MEAT BISCUIT. 

and of the best description ; and eveiy thing about the 
establishment neat and clean to the vei-y highest degree. 
In fact, this last seems to rank with the proprietor aa 
the first of virtues, so scrupulously is it observed. 

The biscuit. resembles in appearance a light colored 
sugar cake. It is packed in air-tight casks, or tin 
canisters of different sizes, part of the biscuit being pul- 
verized by grinding in a mill for the purpose, and thus 
packed with the whole biscuit. 

The War Department being impressed with the im- 
portance of the new article of diet presented in the 
Meat Biscuit, has determined to make a thorough test 
of it among the troops on the frontier, and has accord- 
ingly ordered a large amount for the purpose. 

Mr. Borden, as it is evident from the large amount 
he has invested in the enterprise, is perfectly sanguine 
of its success. Indeed it is no longer regarded as an 
experiment, and it is evident that it is destined to be- 
come a matter of great importance — not only to the 
Array, to all those " who go down to sea in ships," and 
to emigrants across the great plains — but to Texas, 
through her stock-raisers, constituting a large portion 
of her citizens. — Civilian. 

The Meat Biscuit Factory. — We stepped into 
this establishment the other day, for the purpose of 
noting the modus o'perandi by which beef cattle are con- 
verted into biscuit. The arrangements and machinery- 
are on a much more extensive scale than we had 
previously imagined, and the whole establishment ex- 
hibited a neatness and cleanliness which we did not ex- 
pect to see. The process is carried on in a capacious 
brick building at the west end of the Strand, and all 
contrivances for facilitating the work are admirably 
arranged. 

It is right to state that none but the best quality of 
beef is used, and that the whole process is performed 
with particular regard to cleanliness, as is apparent 
from the perfect order in the establishment, and the 
condition of the vessels and machinery used in it. — ' 
Journal 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 422 861 3 



